Voronezh emerges in Epstein files connected to trafficking ring

The pastime of «find yourself in the Epstein files» has taken over the planet. The scandalous materials in the case of the American financier accused of creating a system of sexual exploitation of underage girls keep surfacing prominent figures — from businessmen to politicians, including Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, and Russians are mentioned there as well. At the same time, the US Department of Justice, which released a massive dump for the whole world to see, notes that even these millions of publications are not everything — some materials in the case of financier Jeffrey Epstein are classified. However, the mention of anyone«s name in the »files« does not mean the person is guilty of any crime. More on the planetary-scale »Epstein hysteria« can be found in an article by our colleagues at Fontanka. And imagine — the glorious city of Voronezh has also appeared in these phenomenal documents.

American dream of a Voronezh philologist

The capital of the Black Earth region is mentioned in the Epstein files in materials from August 2002 in the context of the case of Lev Trakhtenberg — a native of Voronezh who was convicted in New York in 2005 for extortion and inducing prostitution. Trakhtenberg left for the American dream on the wave of mass emigration of the stormy 90s — in 1992, when he was 28. A graduate of the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology of Voronezh State University (English language and literature), he first got a job as an administrator at the Opera and Ballet Theater, then moved to work at the philharmonic. And he opened, as he later wrote in his memoirs, «the first concert cooperative in Voronezh.» The cooperative was called «Rendezvous» — local music lovers of the 80s and 90s still compose legends about it. On the ruins of the country, young «philologist» Lev Trakhtenberg earned money by bringing first-magnitude stars to the capital of the Black Earth region. Deafening fame struck him in May 1988: Trakhtenberg brought Tsoi to the Voronezh Palace of Culture «Electronika».

He explained his emigration — he left for New York with his wife and daughter — by national motives. The first couple of years in the USA — 1992–1993 — he made ends meet as a manager in local stores. Then he got a job at one of the Russian-American television and radio stations — and made a good career from PR director to head of the concert department. From 1999, he began to call himself an «impresario»: he brought stars of Russian pop and theater on tour to America. The name of the Voronezh «concertmaster» was printed in the world press in August 2002, when it became known that Mr. Trakhtenberg and his ex-wife had been detained on suspicion of extortion and organizing prostitution.

He turned a teacher into a sex slave

In March 2005, Trakhtenberg was given his first sentence: 3.5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine to the victim — a former teacher from Voronezh who worked as a stripper in American clubs. According to the investigation, the teacher was brought to America under the guise of a member of a show group, but in fact she ended up in sexual slavery: her documents were taken away, she was placed in a strip club, and a tribute was imposed on her. As the media wrote, the «impresario» himself admitted during the investigation that he took $200 a day from her. If that much money was not raised — he forced her into prostitution. In court, Trakhtenberg staged a performance of repentance — including for this reason he received a sentence that is laughable by American standards.

Soon he was given a second sentence — five years for bringing Russian women into the country under false pretenses for prostitution. Journalists then reported that the case materials contained information about more than two dozen alleged victims from 1999 to 2002. The girls, according to investigators, were recruited according to the same scheme as the teacher: they were brought to the USA under the guise of members of cultural groups — and turned into concubines. The impresario, after the verdict, stated that, allegedly, some of the «recruited» came to America several times and still work in stripping. According to his version, these girls wrote statements to the prosecutor«s office in order to obtain a residence permit and settle in the USA under the guise of victims of human trafficking. Nevertheless, he went to prison.

Trakhtenberg was «helped» by his ex-wife and a friend — also a Voronezh native, a boxer. The friend pleaded guilty and made a deal with the investigation, the ex-wife denied until the last: how their cases ended is unknown.

«They deceived women in a poor area»

The odious «philologist» himself later said that he was released from the American federal prison Fort Dix in 2009 and for three years wrote the author«s column »On the Bunks with Uncle Sam« in the newspaper »Evening New York«. At the same time, he worked on Russian-language radio and... Continued to engage in »impresarioing« — bringing Russian stars to America.

In October 2023, at the age of 59, Lev Trakhtenberg died in New York — presumably from lung cancer. So there is no opportunity to ask him about a possible acquaintance with financier Jeffrey Epstein. And in the extravagant files published by the American Department of Justice, it says the following — a literal translation:

According to court documents, Trakhtenberg and his accomplices recruited victims through advertisements placed in a local newspaper in the Russian city of Voronezh. The advertisements offered high-paying jobs in New York strip clubs, but specifically stated that sex would not be expected. As a cover for this operation, Trakhtenberg and his accomplices created fake entertainment companies and fake theatrical productions in the United States.

Then American companies sent official invitations to Russian companies, which were used to obtain a United States visa in Russia. Before leaving for the United States, the recruiters forced the women to provide them with the names and addresses of their relatives in Russia «in case of emergency.» As soon as the women arrived in the United States, the defendants took their documents and locked the women in an apartment guarded by an organized crime accomplice. The defendants took the women to work at a strip club every day and picked them up from there. According to the women, they handed over most of their earnings to Russian criminals. The women were warned that attempts to escape, as well as refusal to hand over their earnings, could harm their families in Russia.

Thus, the Trakhtenberg case represents a third model of a Russian organization engaged in human trafficking. <...> The traffickers apparently limited their criminal activity to human trafficking and were not part of a multi-faceted criminal organization. <...> To recruit their victims, they resorted to deceiving women in a poor area of Russia.

Actually, the scheme from the materials of Trakhtenberg«s criminal case is described, most likely, this is it. And direct evidence of a possible connection between the Voronezh pimp and Epstein is not mentioned in the published »files«. However, parallels can be seen. Instead of bourgeois popcorn, we stock up on sunflower seeds and wait for the continuation. And by the way, Voronezh residents might be offended by the »poor area« — take it easy there, in your Americas.